Memories
by toffeecakesxox
Summary: Ron and Hermione reminisce before he is gone physically, but not emotionally. RonHermione, SeamusLavender, HugoOC, ScorpiusRose, HarryGinny. Response to The Dying Breath Challenge by sick-atxxheart. Oneshot.


**Title:** Memories  
**Challenge:** The Dying Breath Challenge by sick-atxxheart on the HPFC.  
**Pairing:** Ron/Hermione  
**Length:** oneshot.  
**Rating:** K+  
**Word Count**: 934  
**Summary:** Ron and Hermione reminisce before he is gone physically, but not emotionally.  
**Author's Notes:** I tried on this oneshot, but I'm no good at sad things, so I think I failed… big time. What do you think?  
**Disclaimer: **Nothing belongs to me. All the characters I use belong to the Authoress herself, J.K. Rowling. I'm merely under their [the characters] command. :)

* * *

**"I guess... I just couldn't... live without you."  
"Every memory strengthens me and leads me peacefully to death, love..."**

**

* * *

****M**emories shift continuously through her mind, his larger, wrinkled hand swallowing hers with a surprising familiarity.

_(Their first kiss, consisting of awkwardness after they'd finally pulled away, as in blushing tomato faces, that neither she nor he wanted to encounter ever again.) _

She smiles softly, the hand not held by his reaching up to smooth the vast amounts of worry lines on his forehead, shiny with sweat. Her heart aches but she needs to be strong.

He mumbles something quietly in his sleep, disturbing her thoughts for an unknown amount of time. "Shh…" she whispers softly.

_(Their first date, not as awkward as the aftermath of their first kiss, but every bit as memorable.)_

She jumps in the comfortable cushioned seat of their bedroom, smiling again as he opens his eyes—those ever so lovely blue eyes.

"Hello, love," she says to him, her voice soft.

He smiles at her, his eyes shining as his mind registers her face—wrinkled but just as beautiful as she had been when they'd met 83 years ago.

"Hi," he rasps.

"How are you? Do you feel okay?" she asks anxiously.

"I feel fine, Hermione," he says, a hint of exasperation on his age-old face.

"Are you sure? You're not hurting?"

"No, sweetheart. **Every memory strengthens me and leads me peacefully to death, love…**"

"I-I love you." Tears shine in her chocolate brown eyes; still as soulful, as passionate as the time she'd asked Ron and Harry to join S.P.E.W.

"I know you do," he grins cheekily. At The Look, he hastily adds, "And I love you too."

She laughs, wiping away her tears, as she leans over to kiss his forehead. He moves over on the bed, patting the spot he left for her with surprising intensity, his eyes boring into hers, sparkling all the while.

Hermione squeezes in, settling herself into their familiar position, his arms around her waist, and her head on his chest as she breathes in his scent, his nose in her graying bushy hair.

"Do you remember when Rose and Hugo were born?" she asks him, laughing along with him as he remembers.

"Yes. I was a psycho nut when Rosie was born, wasn't I? Screaming and yelling at all those poor Healers…"

_(Their first child, Rose Marie Weasley, as she entered the world, yelling and screeching, but having her parents around her little finger before she could even talk.)_

"You were," she agrees instantly. "You always were daft when it came to Rosie and Hugo. Like when Scorpius Malfoy came and asked you if he could date her. I had to keep you at bay, I was so scared you'd rip him limb from limb."

"Scorpius isn't as bad a bloke as I thought he was," Ron admits, his arms tightening around his wife. "I mean, he's a fan of the Chudley Cannons!"

_(Their first offer for their daughter's potential boyfriend, and now-husband and the father of Rose's children.)_

"I told you. And Cecilia isn't as bad either. Hugo loves her, you know he does. It's very clear, in his actions and the way he's always smiling when he's around her."

"Cecilia Finnigan… I never would've thought our son would fall for my ex-girlfriend's daughter." Ron laughs, still not used to the idea of his son being married to, and being the father, of Lavender's _daughter's _children.

_(Their first introduction to Hugo's wife, who just so happened to be the daughter of Seamus Finnigan and Lavender Brown.)_

"And then James and Al when they were younger. Oh, you were their favorite uncle. You still are."

"And then little Lily! You were one of her favorite aunts, that's for sure."

_(Their first little favorites, the offspring of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley.)_

Hermione smiles slightly, burying her face into his chest, as his breathing lessens even more.

"Why were you so jealous when Viktor Krum asked me to the Yule Ball, Ron?"

She peers up at him, her eyes staring straight into his soul as she waits for his answer. He looks down at her, and then at the ceiling of their room, his eyes tracing the patterns as he fumbles for an answer.

"Because, Hermione, **I guess... I just couldn't... live without you.** And the thought of someone other than me being the father of your children, being your husband, as daft as I was, since I didn't realize that I was hopelessly in love with you until 5th or 6th year, made me so very, very envious."

_(Their first big fight, consisting of tears, daft guys, and more tears.)_

She smiles. "I see. Wh-when did you realize you loved me? The exact time you did."

"When you fought off those Death Eaters at the Department of Mysteries…" he whispers, voice steadily growing lower and lower. He is dying, and Hermione knows it, being the smartest witch of her generation after all.

_(Their first realization of the simple love that the two share, no matter how long it took Ron to realize his obvious infatuation with one of his best friends.)_

"I love you," he says into her hair, "I always… will."

And then he is gone, the memories—some sad, some amusing, some dramatic, some happy, and some just plain old romantic—of their life together still running through Hermione's mind as she cries into his chest, the comforting rhythm of Ron's heartbeat no longer there.

No matter what, Ron's memory would always be in the hearts of all the people who'd known him.

_(Just their first memory—meeting each other on the train, dirt on the nose and all.)_

_

* * *

__**-toffeecakesxox.**_


End file.
